Cardio Freak MMA News Report 07.24.08: One Minute and Thirty-Seven Seconds

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 07.24.2008

Cardio Freak is back with a recap of the first Affliction show featuring 3 great Heavyweight fights, UFC Fight Night featuring the most awesome man ever, and DREAM featuring HELLBOY! Plus a preview of the EliteXC show that you probably forgot about, an update on Quinton Jackson, and UFC spending a ham sandwich. All that and the latest new from around the MMA world. It's the most FEDORable typing you'll ever read, it's Cardio Freak on 411.



Welcome back to Cardio Freak everyone. I am your trainer Jeremy ‘I Am FEDORable' Lambert.

10 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week

Fedor and Silva prove their dominance

A lot of questions were brought up heading into this past Saturday in regards to the weekends top draws. "How will Fedor fare against a top Heavyweight?" "How will Anderson Silva do at 205?" "Does Fedor still have it?" "Will the mystique of either be ruined?" All questions were answered in a combined fight time of 1:37.

One minute and thirty-seven seconds.

Tim Sylvia and James Irvin had game plans. Fedor and Silva didn't care. Fedor did what any smart fighter would do against Tim Sylvia and that's blitzed him early. Frank Mir and Andrei Arlovski were able to catch Sylvia within the first minute of their fights while Randy Couture dazed Sylvia with the first punch he threw in their fight. Fedor connected with eight blows before finally dropping Sylvia. From there, he took his back, laid in some punches, and finally sunk in a rear naked choke for the victory. Thirty-six seconds. Anderson Silva didn't blitz James Irvin but instead wait for his chance and capitalized on Irvin's mistake. That mistake came in the form of a leg kick, which Silva caught. Silva followed with a right hand that dropped Irvin and finished with eight right hands on the ground before Irvin finally went out and the ref stopped it. One minute and one second.

One minute and thirty-seven seconds.

It's almost as if the MMA Gods were toying with us. Only allowing the fans to see two of the best fighters in the world today fight for such a short combined time. They'll be back though and hopefully their greatness will be on display a little longer next time.

Based on all the rumors before and after the respective events, Anderson Silva will be back in September (YEAH~!) since only his right hand took damage against James Irvin and Affliction will be back in October so Fedor can fight on that card and then fight in Japan on New Years Eve.

Anderson Silva stated after his fight that his commitment is to the Middleweight division since you know; he is the champion and everything. TANGENT: Anderson Silva gets it. He realizes he's the champion of a division and that his job is to represent that division. He's not like BJ Penn who has defended the Lightweight title once in a lot deeper field than Middleweight but wants to move up to Welterweight (where he's 0-2 in his last two Welterweight fights) because his loss to Georges St. Pierre two years ago haunts him every night. You know Anderson Silva could have said, "If I move up to Light Heavyweight, I want to fight the champion" and UFC would have agreed. Instead he took a fight that was a relative risk, dominated, and now wants to continue to represent his division. It's Anderson Silva's Octagon, you're just getting your ass kicked in it.

If all went according to plan Silva would defeat Irvin and then fight Okami in September. Silva defeated Irvin but Okami broke his hand in training and won't be ready in September. That means Patrick Cote will likely fight Silva in September and I can't wait to see that destruction first hand.

Now that Fedor is the WAMMA Heavyweight Champion, he'll be fighting nothing but the best. Under the WAMMA sanctioning Fedor, being the champion, will be fighting the top contender, based on their rankings, that they are able to secure. As of their latest rankings (July 21), Josh Barnett would be the top contender. Antonio Nogueira is ranked second but he's under a Zuffa contract and Randy Couture is ranked third but he has the legal battle. It looks like Arlovski is going to get the next fight though. Reports indicate that Affliction will return on October 11th in Las Vegas and the headlining fight will be Arlovski vs. Fedor. Doesn't Affliction know that Las Vegas is Dana White's fucking town? So, how long before UFC moves UFC 89 to October 11 in order to counter the Affliction? Hell, at this point UFC may run an event at MGM on that same night.

Affliction starts slow, ends strong

It seemed like a disaster at first. Aleksander Emelianenko was pulled from the card after he wasn't cleared by the CSAC, Michael Buffer couldn't pronounce the names of the fighters at the weigh ins, Donald Trump pretty much called MMA fans poor at the weigh ins, and there was a lot of confusion before and during the FSN portion of the broadcast. Even the undercard fights were mediocre at best and with Heavyweights having the reputation of being hit or miss, Affliction could have been doomed. In the end, I wanted more.

Paul Buentello vs. Gary Goodridge looked like two friends fighting on short notice (one was). They didn't even show the first round (likely due to time constraints) and the second and third round was nothing special. Buentello won with a mediocre performance in a mediocre fight.

Terry Martin once again became victim of another highlight knockout. The old Vitor Belfort isn't back because we've all seen him look impressive in one fight and then barely show up in his next one. The first round was pretty lackluster with neither guy really letting it hang out. The second round saw Vitor open up more, connect with a big knee, and then knockout Martin with an uppercut followed by a left. It was a good win, a great knockout, now do it again.

Mike Pyle kicked off the PPV portion of the show with a good submission win over a clearly overmatched JJ Ambrose. Pyle is a mediocre Welterweight who will beat guys like Ambrose but as his fight with Jake Shields shows, when he's in there against a top guy, he's not in the same league.

Antonio ‘Lil Nog' Nogueira proved to be too much for Edwin Dewees, knocking him out late in first round. Noguiera showed very good striking in the fight before putting him away with a big right hand. I don't know where Nogueira goes from here but my gut tells me he'll end up in UFC with his brother. The Light Heavyweight pool outside of the UFC is thin and he and Rento Sobral already nixed a potential fight so that doesn't leave many options.

Matt Lindland showed either ring rust or over-confidence in his fight against Fabio Negao. Lindland looked to have the fight finished early with a quick knockdown followed by a guillotine choke but Negao survived. The rest of the fight was two very tired guys trading punches until the bell rang. Lindland won by decision but he didn't look like "THE GUY WHO COULD BEAT ANDERSON SILVA~!" like a lot of people want to claim.

Rento Sobral and Mike Whitehead continued the mediocre theme with a mediocre fight. Whitehead looked as if he was only there for the catering while Sobral did just enough to win but was never really threatening with a finish. The highlight of the fight was a straight kick by Sobral that connected and his feet-wiping follow-up. Sobral is always a treat to watch but all the best Light Heavyweights are in the UFC so I can't help but to think that every fight he's in is somewhat meaningless. I guess on the positive side, he could potentially be the first ever WAMMA Light Heavyweight champion. Sobral hinted at a possible fight with Tito Ortiz at the post-event press conference but I'm not so sure that's going to happen. It's probably the biggest Light Heavyweight fight outside the UFC but Tito doesn't want the biggest Light Heavyweight fight, he wants the biggest fight. That would be a fight against Frank Shamrock, not Rento Sobral.

Mark Hominick and Savant Young fought, no one cared. Hominick is a good little striker who showed an improved ground game in this fight but I couldn't help but notice that Young looked like a midget (who would kick my ass) so I just couldn't take this fight serious.

Up until this point it was a very mediocre show. Then the Heavyweights showed why it was their night to begin with.

The first round was Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo was more of a feeling out process than anything else. Then Barnett enough was enough and it was time for a change. He knocked out Rizzo with a beautiful left hand and then landed another one for good measure. I said in a column not too long ago that Barnett would have to finish Rizzo to be looked at as a serious contender and he did just that. It wasn't a great performance on his part until that knockout but the knockout is what sticks in everyone's mind. The best thing about Josh Barnett though is his love for pro-wrestling and how it translates to his MMA career. Barnett knows that to make yourself look better, you put your opponent over. He put Rizzo over like a million bucks, got the crowd into it, and delivered a catch phrase.

Andrei Arlovski proved doubters like myself wrong with a great performance over a very tough Ben Rothwell. Arlovski came out to the biggest reaction of the night thus far complete with the caveman beard. He then proceeded to hit Rothwell with everything he had until Rothwell finally fell down. I thought Arlovski may have burned himself out trying to finish Rothwell at the end of the second round but he was able to put Rothwell away early in the third and any doubt that Arlovski had lost passion for the sport was erased. He looked like the world-beater in the UFC and he looked like a guy who could give Fedor problems should they meet. He was a superstar before the fight had started and he was a megastar by the time it was over.

When the show was over, I wanted more. I wanted to see Fedor vs. Arlovski, Barnett, or Couture and the two he didn't fight, I wanted to see them fight.

On the downside, I didn't care for the production. As I've stated many times, I'm a fan at how UFC does things so anything different just feels weird and poor to me. Michael Buffer, the greatest ring announcer of all time, being there gave it a "big time" feel but he acted as if he didn't want to be there during most of the introductions. I don't need one video package for each fighter before the fights. Megadeath isn't really my taste of music but considering the show was four hours long, I can understand the need for a music intermission. I guess Affliction got the memo that TNA never shows recap videos so Affliction decided to double up their recap videos. Also the muffed noise during portions of the broadcast was obviously annoying and how they couldn't correct that after the first time is beyond me.

As for the commentary. Ugh. Jay Glazer was very mediocre, Frank Trigg continued to be unbearable with his comments, and John McCarthy just didn't seem to fit in. For the life of me I can't understand why Frank Trigg continues to get commentary jobs. Note to Trigg, when doing commentary, DON'T BURY THE FUCKING FIGHTERS! Everyone knew Edwin Dewees stood no chance against Nogueira but to flat out say it just makes Dewees look poor for even showing up, Nogueira look poor for beating a guy who sucks (and even worse had he lost), and the company look poor for putting on such a fight. UFC puts on mismatches all the times (Silva vs. Irvin) but Goldberg and Rogan aren't burying Irvin like he's some scrub before the fight even takes place. Maybe in the middle of a fight and someone is clearly overmatched they'll comment, "he's out of his league" but they don't discredit the guy before the bell even rings. Also, we get it, you train with Randy at Xtreme Couture. John McCarthy did a decent job as the awkward post fight interviewer although whoever was telling him to ask the guys who they want to fight next should be fired. Fighters may pick and choose their fights behind the scenes but in front of the camera, everyone gives the politically correct answer of, "I'll fight whoever."

Overall, what was expected to deliver did and that's all you can ask for. The production and announcing are secondary (although they can obviously enhance the product) and as long as the fights deliver, everyone is happy. I was happy.

UFC counters strong

Ultimate Fight Night 14 didn't have the big time feel that Affliction had but hey, they did debut some spiffy new graphics.

CB Dollaway and Jesse Taylor kicked off the night in a surprising entertaining fight. I figured this would be two wrestlers just holding the other guy down but it wasn't Both guys showed some good grappling and CB capitalized on a Taylor mistake by catching him in the famed Peruvian necktie. CB looked like the guy who everyone thought would win The Ultimate Fighter 7 and how poetic was it that he won with the move that they put over on the show? I wasn't a fan of CB on the show but after this performance I'm excited to see him fight again. Also, was it just me for did Jesse give the single tap, pause, and then give the multiple tap? Maybe the ref didn't see the single tap or he just decided to see if it was a tap but CB did the smart thing by keeping the hold on. Also, it looks as if Taylor is out of the UFC again with this loss due to some comments made about Quinton Jackson. Don't worry Jesse, if Affliction paid Paul Buentello $60,000 then they'll probably pony up at least $75,000 for you.

‘THE FIRE' BURNS~! Kevin Burns picked up a controversial victory over Anthony Johnson. Johnson constantly reacted that Burns was poking him in the eye and finally Burns got him with a deadly poke that had Johnson reacting as if his eye popped out of the socket. Burns claimed that he couldn't throw a closed left hand due to a broken hand so he had to throw a palm strike. It's unfortunate that it happened but I don't understand how Burns came away with win, when he clearly won due to an illegal strike. Burns' gimmick seems to be that he's going to fight you and beat you at your strength. He submitted Roan Carnerio and he held his own standing with Johnson to the point that he may have actually been winning the fight depending on how the judges scored the takedowns, where Johnson did nothing and ended up getting stood up every time. Credit to Johnson for being nothing but class in his post-fight interview when he was arguably robbed of a win (at least a no contest) and was visibly upset during the fight when caught in the eye. Johnson's camp is apparently appealing the decision and I can't say I blame them. This decision will likely get overturned because Burns clearly won due to the fingers to the eye.

Cain Velasquez looked like what Brock Lesnar was hyped to be. Granted he wasn't taking on a former UFC Heavyweight Champion with very good submissions but he was taking on a guy who holds a win over Heath Herring, Lesnar's next opponent. Jake O'Brien was simply outclassed by Cain. He was taken down, put in side control, and then dominated from the Salaverry position by Cain. I think UFC has to now give Cain a top opponent in his next fight and my guess is that top opponent will be Cheick Kongo, pending he wins at UFC 87. It would be a great style fight for Cain and a win would put him right at the top of the heap in the thin Heavyweight division.

Frankie Edgar easily surpassed my lower expectations and likely would have lived up to the high expectations I set for him after his fight with Tyson Griffin. Hermes Franca had his return spoiled but he put up a hell of a fight against the scrappy Edgar. Franca really only threatened with a submission in the first round and Edgar was able to escape. After that, although most of the fight took place on the ground, Franca never really put Edgar in danger off his back. Franca has an uncanny ability to time guys shots and connect with knees but he couldn't finish Edgar, just like he couldn't finish Sherk. Franca went down swinging though and my hat off to him for that. Edgar may still have some trouble with bigger Lightweights like a Sean Sherk but this kid improves every fight and he continues to be a treat to watch.

Brandon Vera made his Light Heavyweight debut in a pretty lackluster performance against Reese Andy. Both guys looked gassed out early in the fight and Vera fought more not to lose than to win. I figured Vera would roll through Reese since fighters who want to be great should roll through fighters who aren't great but Vera didn't do that. Vera actually got more over in his two losses than he did in this win. As a fan of Vera, I want to give him a pass in this fight and think that the weight cutting played a part but it's tough as he had a big size and UFC experience advantage on Andy. Rich Franklin didn't look so good in his first fight at 185 yet he went on to defeat everyone not named Anderson Silva in the weight class. Hopefully it was just the weight cutting and the fact that he had lost two straight holding Vera back and next time he'll fight like he fought before that long layoff because since he's come back he's been less than impressive.

Overall, it was a good night of free fighting. Vera vs. Andy wasn't good and the ending to Johnson vs. Burns kind of put a damper on that fight but everything else was good stuff.

Hellboy 3: Big DREAM5

Joachim Hansen started DREAM 5 on the outside looking in. He had a reserve bout against Kulter Gill, which was more or less a "thank you for delivering an awesome fight against Eddie Alvarez" fight. He could only get into the finals if the winner and loser of a semi-final fight were deemed unable to compete in the finals. Eddie Alvarez and Tatsuya Kawajiri delivered a fight just as good as Alvarez vs. Hansen but with bigger repercussions. Kawajiri was took a lot of damage and was knocked out by Alvarez while Alvarez gained a swollen right eye and wasn't able to continue despite winning. Alvarez wanted to compete in the finals against Shinya Aoki because he figured the eye wouldn't be a factor considering Aoki was submission specialist and not a striker. I admire Alvarez' heart but striker or not, you would have to think that Aoki would target the eye of Alvarez. If anyone were to take the place of Eddie Alvarez, he and the fans couldn't be happier that it was Joachim Hansen.

Hansen gained a rematch against Shinya Aoki in the finals of the Lightweight GP. Aoki defeated Caol Uno earlier in the night with a beautiful display of submission grappling. He nearly finished Uno with a triangle choke but Uno was able to survive. Aoki threw every submission in the book at Uno and controlled the entire fight on the ground en route to earning the decision victory.

Aoki and Hansen met once before at PRIDE Shockwave 2006 where Aoki submitted Hansen with a gogoplata. Hansen obviously learned from his mistake as he was able to defend a gogoplata attempt from Aoki in the fight but almost found himself caught in an omaplata. He escaped that though and made Aoki pay with bombs on the ground. He finally scored with a superman punch on the ground that knocked Aoki silly and finished him with multiple punches until the ref stepped in.

Joachim Hansen scored the biggest win of his career by winning the DREAM Lightweight GP and defeating the favorite in the process. Hansen needed some help in getting into the finals but he got there and made the most of it.

Bring on Hansen vs. Alvarez 2.

The rest of the night was good stuff as well. Urijah Faber's protégé Jospeh Benavidez defeated Junyo Kudo quickly with a guillotine choke. The best part about all this was Urijah Faber in the corner of Benavidez taking pictures and videos like a complete mark. Kudo was a late replacement for ‘Kid' Yamamoto, who tore his ACL days before the fight. The torn ACL could just be a cover story though as reports are circulating that he was pulled for another reason. I hope everything works out for ‘Kid' but I really want to see Benavidez vs. Yamamoto now since Faber vs. Yamamoto looks like a longshot.

Alistair Overeem took a fight with Mark Hunt on three days notice but you wouldn't know it from his performance. He got the fight to the ground and submitted Hunt early in the first. Overeem is one of those dark horse Heavyweights who can give you exciting fights, can give top Heavyweights a good fight, and could possibly pull some upsets. I'd like to see UFC or Affliction give him a shot but I doubt that is going to happen. And, although it doesn't matter, Overeem defeated Fedor in my current game of WMMA.

Yoshihiro Akiyama decided to stop screwing around with the 2-4 Katsuyori Shibata late in the first round as he put him to sleep with a choke from mount. Akiyama is hated in Japan so the reactions alone in this fight were worth it. Although Shibata had relatively no chance at winning this fight, the crowd would react as if we was going to win every time Akiyama swung and missed.

Coming off a car accident, Hideo Tokoro defeated Takeshi Yamazaki via decision. The fight was largely uneventful with neither guy coming close to finishing the other but the fighters seemed to be working hard. Kuniyoshi Hironaka and Motoki Miyazawa engaged in a scrappy fight that so Hironaka pick up the victory due to a cut. Daisuke Nakamura submitted K-1 veteran Andy Olgun early in the first round in the opening contest of the night.

Kudos to HDNet for sending Bas Rutten, Kenny Rice, and a production crew to Japan this time as the show came off much better on TV than previous DREAM shows where they filmed the whole thing in a studio in Los Angeles. Rutten and Rice weren't ready to fall asleep by the time the main event came around this time.

Another good showing by DREAM with the conclusion of the Lightweight GP. Alvarez vs. Kawajiri is a potential Fight of the Year candidate, Aoki put on a submission clinic against Uno, and Joachim Hansen is just awesome.

EliteXC goes with no Kimbo

EliteXC returns to CBS this weekend with no Kimbo, no Gina, and no hype. I at least saw some promos for the first EliteXC show while watching TV in the weeks leading up to the event but I've seen nothing for this one. It's a shame to because this card has the potential to be much better than the inaugural EXC on CBS show.

The show is headlined by Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith for the EXC Middleweight title in a rematch of their first fight in May that ended when Smith couldn't continue after a poke to the eye. That fight was very exciting up until the finish and many expect this one to pick up where the last one left off. I'm not going to raise my expectations that high because that's a recipe for disappointment. I think the fight will be a very good slugfest and there's no reason to expect anything different. The last fight was close until the stoppage but Lawler seemed closer to finishing Smith than Smith came to finishing Lawler. Both guys hit hard and both guys can take a punch. I think Lawler is stronger and quicker so I say he'll win the rematch.

Under the main event is Jake Shields vs. Nick Thompson for the EXC Welterweight Title, in what is the first real ground fight EXC is putting on. Every fight on the first show was a designed stand up battle while this fight will no doubt hit the ground. Both fighters are well rounded and this should be a very exciting fight with the entire game of Mixed Martial Arts on display on CBS. I think Thompson has the advantage on the feet but it's not a great advantage or anything. Shields is the better wrestler and grappler but Thompson can hold his own. I think Shields is a level above every Welterweight not in the UFC so I think he'll take this fight although it should be fun.

Also the card is a teammate of Jake Shields, Nick Diaz. He takes on Thomas Denny in a "showcase fight". The main reason for putting Diaz on the card is the fact that they're in Stockton, Diaz' hometown, and they want to push the Diaz vs. Noons rematch. You'll remember a month or so ago, EXC did the big angle with the Diaz Brothers and the Noons Clan and I expect that footage to be aired no less than 10 times this Saturday. I would say bring KJ Noons into the cage after the Diaz fight but I'm afraid a riot will take place (could you imagine thousands of people just like Nick Diaz in the crowd?) if Noons looks at him funny. As for the fight, Diaz should win but we all know he's going to fight at the level of Denny. In a perfect world Diaz would fight every fight like he fought Gomi but that's not Nick Diaz. He fights down or up to his competition and that's really his biggest shortcoming as a fighter. He'll win this fight because he's better and EXC hopes he looks impressive but I wouldn't count on it.

Rounding out the CBS card is a women's fight that pits Shayna Baszler against Cristiane Santos. Women fights are generally fun although unless Gina Carano involved, no one really cares. The winner of this fight could face Carano on the next CBS card for the EXC Women's Title. Santos comes from Chute Box and is the wife of Evangelista ‘Cyborg' Santos so I assume she fights a lot like her husband, who is primarily a striker. Baszler trains with Josh Barnett and is primarily a grappler. Whoever can get this fight where their comfortable is going to win and I'm just going to pick Santos because Carano vs. Santos makes for a better fight than Carano vs. Baszler.

EliteXC will not only be on CBS this Saturday but they're also doing one hour on Showtime before the CBS show. That portion of the event is headlined by Antonio Silva vs. Justin Eilers for the EXC Heavyweight Title. The fight is a joke. Justin Eilers probably doesn't crack the top 30 Heavyweight list so having him fighting for your Heavyweight title just looks horrible, especially after the performances of Velasquez, Arlovski, Barnett, and Fedor just last weekend. Antonio Silva should roll right through him. I've already stated how I think this is a move that makes no sense for EliteXC but it's a done deal and there's nothing I can do about it. I just hope that Showtime plans on showing a replay of the event after the CBS portion and that EXC informs their new audience that they can watch more fighting on Showtime after CBS.

The buzz for this card is very minimal. I almost forgot this event was this weekend because I've seen no hype for it, even on the internet. Amidst the huge weekend we're coming off, EXC has a lot to live up to. I don't know how the show will do ratings wise but my guess is it will be lower than the first EXC on CBS event. I just hope the event is good.

Playing to Your Strengths

Quinton Jackson apparently had a mental breakdown, which led to his actions last week. Jackson took the loss to Forrest Griffin very hard and he watched the fight for the first time the day before his arrest. The day after his release, friends noticed some odd behavior at the hotel so he was taken to a mental facility. Dana White stated that Jackson went on a, "crazy fasting deal" after the fight and that he doesn't know when Jackson will fight again

Once again best wishes to Quinton Jackson and I hope that he can turn things around and fight again. It's obviously going to be awhile before he does fight again though, which really sucks for Jackson fans and MMA fans because Jackson is one of the most entertaining fighters in and out of the cage. I don't know what the whole fasting thing is about that Dana was speaking of but I'm thinking that it might just be a cover up as Jackson just was in a bad place mentally. I think Jackson put so much pressure on himself heading into the Griffin fight and when he couldn't finish Forrest and then when he dropped a decision he just shut down. After hearing a lot of people saying that he won the fight, he continued to break down further to the point where we're at now.

I don't think anyone saw this coming but maybe we should have. When Quinton Jackson is on, he's one of the best fighters in the world and one of the most charismatic guys you'll ever hear speak. When he's off though, you don't even want to see the guy. I listened to a radio interview with him a week or so after he beat Chuck Liddell for the UFC Light Heavyweight title and if it wasn't stated that they were speaking to Quinton Jackson, I would have thought they were speaking to Liddell. He sounded drowsy and raspy like Liddell except he didn't say so many unintentional funny things. We all heard about his interview with ESPN before the Griffin fight and how he discredited Forrest and basically sounded out of it. Maybe some of that had to do with weight cutting but when you're doing an interview with ESPN, you've got to play it up considering ESPN's influence with the sport. I joked in my TUF recaps how Jackson's tirades, that were so heavily hyped, were pretty tame but maybe it should have been a sign considering he reacted like that to his fighters losing and not himself losing. Also, I know a lot of people have talked about how Juanito Ibarra has been great for Jackson's career and professionally he has but maybe not personally. Juanito comes off as a hot head to me. He was visibly upset when Cheick Kongo dropped a decision to Heath Herring at UFC 82 and he was so upset that Jackson lost the decision to Griffin that he wanted to appeal. When you're around someone like that so often, they're going to rub off on you.

I once again hope the best for Jackson and I hope his fight with Griffin wasn't the last time we saw him in the Octagon.

It appears that if UFC has purchased, or are on the verge of purchasing, the International Fight League. Rumors swirled late last week and grew as UFC showed IFL footage during the Ultimate Fight Night 14 event

Looks like our bid fell short guys. We'll have another chance when AdrenalineMMA goes out of business though so get your checkbooks ready.

This deal obviously isn't as big as the PRIDE deal but it could turn out a lot better because expectations are much lower. No one expects the IFL to continue and it won't. UFC will get the IFL tape library, which is never a bad thing. They'll also be able to actually use the tape library since another station doesn't have the rights to a lot of the fights. So now if Roy Nelson does indeed fight on a UFC PPV, UFC can show some of his fights on UFC Unleashed the week before the UFC PPV. People get upset at UFC for not showing PRIDE fights on UFC Unleashed but because FSN has the airing rights, they can't do anything except show clips.

UFC will also get either the contracts of the IFL fighters or at least negotiating rights. My guess is that Roy Nelson would be on the top of the list considering he's a good Heavyweight and could make a big impact on the thin division. Also on the rumored list are Jay Hieron, Ryan Schultz, Deividas Taurosevicius, Chris Horodecki, Dan Miller, Jim Miller, and Wagnney Fabiano. Hieron, Jim Miller, Taurosevicius, and Fabiano will likely head to the WEC while Horodecki, Schultz, Dan Miller, and Nelson will stay with the UFC.

In a radio interview, Keith Jardine stated that he will be fighting Brandon Vera at UFC 89

This is sort of baffling news. The fight makes sense as Jardine is coming off a loss, Vera is coming off a bad performance, and both guys are just kind of stuck in the middle of the Light Heavyweight division but it doesn't make sense being on UFC 89. That gives UFC 89, a free show, three big fights while UFC 90, the PPV is lacking and considering there might not be a title fight at UFC 90, they need as many big fights as possible. I've got to believe that something big is in the works for UFC 90 but the only thing that comes to mind is Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn. Nogueira isn't fighting Mir until December due to the airing of TUF8, Forrest Griffin isn't fighting until maybe November (although December is more likely) because they want to wait on Liddell, and Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote could happen in October but that's not a headlining fight without a big name under it plus Silva wants to fight two more times this year and September/November is more likely than October/December as there's no way they're putting Nog/Mir, Liddell/Griffin, and Anderson Silva on the same show.

This is an interesting fight though and really the perfect opponent for Vera, at least the old Vera. Jardine obviously has trouble with guys who press him and the BTL (Before The Layoff) Brandon Vera was known for pressing. It's a big fight for both guys so hopefully they fight to impress instead of fighting not to lose.

Thiago Alves vs. Diego Sanchez will not be part of the UFC 89 card as first thought. The card will instead take place at UFC 90

I guess this is why Thiago Silva vs. Lyoto Machida was added to UFC 89. This is a very good business move by the UFC. The consensus is that Machida is boring so they're throwing fans a bone by not making them pay to see Machida fight. At the same time, Silva is normally an exciting fighter and maybe he can pull a good fight out of Machida. Sanchez and Alves are also bigger draws than Silva and Machida and with UFC 90 possibly not getting a title fight; they need some draws on the card. In the end, I think everything works out for the best.

Matt Hughes is scheduled to miss up to 7 months with a torn MCL and partially torn PCL

Hughes vs. Serra just keeps getting put off. I believe the plan was for those two to possibly headline (or at least co-main event) the UFC 90 event in Chicago but that's now dead. The question now is, does Serra take another fight? He already had a year long lay off with the filming/airing of The Ultimate Fight combined with his back issue and now if he waits to fights Hughes, taking place in February at the earliest, he's looking at 10 months off. I don't think Serra fighting and losing would kill the Hughes vs. Serra story (in fact, it could add more fuel to the fire) but it's something UFC may not want to do. Best of luck to Matt Hughes in his recovery and hopefully we do get to see him inside the Octagon at least one more time.

Studying Tape





Joachim Hansen vs. Eddie Alvarez



Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Eddie Alvarez

You judge which fight is better.

Sparring Session

Ed Soares, the manager for Anderson Silva, said Georges St. Pierre needs to "prove himself" and "defend his title a few times" before fighting Silva

I hate it when managers decide to comment on things like this and while I don't agree with Soares even giving an opinion on the situation, I do agree with his opinion. St. Pierre is far and way the best Welterweight in the world right now but people tend to forget that he's had 0 title defenses in his two runs as Welterweight champion. I'm completely against champions changing weight classes unless they're doing a champion vs. champion fight (and even then I'm not a fan of the idea) but at least Silva has run through every real threat at Middleweight while St. Pierre still has to get by Fitch and then likely Thiago Alves. It's one of the reasons why I don't like BJ Penn moving up because the Lightweight division has such talent like Huerta, Florian, Griffin, Edgar, Guida, ect… and Penn has only defended the belt once.

UFC needs a rule that states, "A champion must defend his title a minimum of 3 times before changing weight classes." Then you've proved that you've cleaned out the division as that would give you one win over the current champion (the supposed best fighter in the division at the time) and three wins over top contenders (the supposed 2nd best fighter in the division). It's obviously never going to happen but when I run my MMA company, it's happening. Hey, if "the t-shirt guy" can run a MMA company so can "the internet writer".

Underwater Ice Bath

Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio recently stated that the plan for Affliction was to run three events and then go from there. If they lost money then Affliction may not continue

I hope he's joking. I praised Affliction earlier for delivering a very good event but business-wise, that event lost money. The fighter payroll came in at just over 3 million dollars and Fedor was only listed as making $300,000, which means he probably got his money up front. I'm sure Megadeath didn't come very cheap and if his WCW numbers are any indication, we know Michael Buffer didn't come cheap. The show drew a 2.1 million dollar gate so that's a feather in the Affliction cap although people are saying that Affliction may have bought some of those tickets and gave them away so the building would be more crowded. The PPV figures haven't come out at the time of this typing but Atencio says they did over 100,000 buys. If that's true then that's another feather in the Affliction cap considering many predicted the show would do 80,000 buys at best. I think the next Affliction show will do much better than this one depending on the card but they can't seriously believe they'll turn a profit with just three shows when they're paying guys like Ben Rothwell $250,000.

I hope Affliction sticks around longer because they could be a serious threat to UFC if they continue to put on good shows with the top free agent talent. If they're going to run on PPV though then I think they need television just because I don't think word of mouth is strong enough. UFC actually did Affliction a favor by running head to head because all the media covered as an "Affliction vs. UFC" thing while had UFC stayed quiet, you have to wonder just how much media would have covered the Affliction show. In the end, they got a lot of media attention after the show as ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo, Fox Sports, and other top sports websites mentioned the Affliction show on the main page. The only problem is, is anyone going to remember this come November when Affliction runs their next show? I guess time will tell.

Pro Elite, the parent company of EliteXC, ICON Sport, Cage Rage, and a bunch of other companies, is close to striking a deal with Fox Sports Net

Good for Pro Elite but really, this means nothing. FSN has shown UFC, PRIDE, IFL, and Affliction and what did it mean? UFC got a little attention by being on FSN but they also put Chuck Liddell on the card when his stock was quickly rising. You can't tell me EliteXC is going to put someone like Kimbo Slice on FSN. FSN did relatively nothing for PRIDE as when they ventured into the US they only did 40,000 PPV buys and they obviously did nothing for the IFL because look where they're at. I don't know if FSN helped Affliction and there's probably no way to ever know but unless you weren't going to order the show and you just caught the Belfort knock out I can't imagine anything else on that show compelling anyone to order the PPV. TNA wrestling also had a deal with FSN that really did nothing for them.

I guess this is a big deal because it gives their smaller companies a chance to promote their fighters and give them exposure but whenever EliteXC has a big event, they're putting it on CBS or Showtime. FSN seems more likely to be a highlight show for the company, which isn't a bad thing but doesn't really mean much.

Taking Time Off

Like the rest of America, I saw The Dark Knight this past weekend. It ruled.

Heath Ledger as the Joker was simply awesome. You wanted to hate the guy but he did so many things that I found perversely funny. Maybe it's just my sick mind. Then again, you can't tell me that you didn't laugh after the pencil trick. Just his mannerisms and actions made him a great character and a great performance by Ledger. It's sad that it will be his last performance ever but damned if it wasn't great. Everything about the movie was good stuff and I won't spoil anything although I'd like to assume that everyone reading this has already seen it. If you haven't, what are you waiting for?

Training Partners

Adam Tool, Stephen DeAugustino, and Morgan Marx bring the news. I should note that Morgan attended the Affliction show live so I encourage everyone to read his report.

Larry Csonka gives his take on Fight Night 14. Scott Kuczkowski gives the Good, Bad, and Ugly of Fight Night 14. Ryan Seymour talks the big 3 from this past weekend. Chris Robinson reveals Fedor's training secrets. BREN~! presents Fact or Fiction featuring BREN~! And Wendell Mitchell. Wendell Mitchell profiles EXC Middleweight Champion Robbie Lawler.

Adam Tool reviews Rumble on the Rock 5 featuring my brother from another mother Jason Lambert. Jonathan Solomon recaps UFC Unleashed also featuring my brother from another mother Jason Lambert.

BREN~! 1 and BREN~! 2 delivers pictures from the Affliction event.

AND IT'S ALL OVER~!

That wraps it up for me folks. I'll be back next week with a recap of EliteXC and whatever else is going on in the MMA world. Take care everyone.

Cardio Freak Sources: Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer, Bryan Alvarez and Figure Four Weekly, MMAWeekly, and MMAMania